Our Curriculum

Our curriculum is based on the government’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This highlights 7 areas of learning and development for children between the ages of 3 and 5. The 3 prime areas on which we concentrate first are:

  • Personal, social and emotional development
  • Communication and Language
  • Physical Development

These prime areas help to develop children’s ability to learn and as they grow, we help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas, which are:

  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the World
  • Expressive Arts and Design

Curriculum activities are planned around children’s interests, seasonal changes, festivals and local events. We encourage the children to bring in items from home to talk about and share, which are often linked to the current topic. In addition, we invite visitors who have a specific connection to the topic to come and talk to the children. In the past, this has included Firemen, Police Officers, our local vet, Hearing Dogs, musicians and dancers. The half-termly newsletter keeps parents up to date with planned events and activities.

Our beautiful local surroundings are regularly used for walks to explore and discover seasonal changes, hunt for mini-beasts, look for bluebells etc. Using a careful blend of playing and exploring active learning and encouraging the children to create and think critically, we aim to ensure that they remain fully engaged for all of their time at Woodlands.

But of course, when you’re 3, you are less concerned about your future developmental needs than whether or not what you are doing is FUN!

If you would like to find out more about how we work, you can contact us.

Outings

With the help of parents, we like to take the children on outings in the local area. In the autumn we go out into the woods to look at the colour changes of nature and we also visit the bonfire site on Downley Common to hear about Guy Fawkes. In winter we wrap up warm and explore the woods surrounding our preschool. In the spring we search for the local bluebell hotspot.

Visitors

We love welcoming various and interesting visitors into Woodlands. We have visitors who do activities with the children; yoga sessions, dance and mindfulness. In the past, we have firefighters (hose spraying was fun), Chiltern Rangers, local PCSO’s, a children’s author, musicians and even the local farmer with his tractor, Rosie. We also have cute fluffy visitors every spring that the children get to watch hatch.